A federal complaint, recently filed in Louisiana, accuses the government of deporting two migrant women to Honduras, taking their American citizen children with them, without allowing them any legal recourse or the opportunity to arrange childcare.
Among the children is a five-year-old boy with terminal kidney cancer, who had begun treatment in the United States. The case, deemed “shocking” by several lawyers, highlights what some denounce as a serious breach of fundamental rights.
According to documents presented before the federal court of the Central District of Louisiana, the two mothers, identified under the fictitious names of Rosario and Julia, were arrested during appointments with immigration services. These meetings were mandated as part of administrative monitoring, and they were summoned with their children and passports.
However, events took an unexpected turn at the location. According to the complaint, the women were taken to separate rooms, denied access to lawyers, and informed they would be deported immediately.
In Rosario’s case, the mother of little Romeo who has cancer, she allegedly refused to sign documents whose contents she didn’t understand, trying to explain her son’s critical health condition. Her lawyer subsequently attempted to intervene urgently, but to no avail: the family was put on a plane to Honduras the next day.
For the lawyers of the National Immigration Project, who filed the complaint, these deportations violate immigration service rules themselves. “The parents were never able to decide if they wanted their children to stay in the United States. They were denied access to attorneys and their families,” stated Stephanie Alvarez-Jones, one of the lawyers involved in the case.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for its part, denies any irregularities. In a statement provided to NBC News, spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin asserts that “parents were given the choice to leave either alone or with their children, and they chose the latter option.” She also maintains that medical care is considered during deportations and labels any allegations of willful negligence as “false.”
In the other case presented in the complaint, Julia claims she was forced to make a written declaration indicating that her two-year-old daughter, Jade, would leave with her. The alternative, according to her: immediate placement of the child in foster care. She says she acted under pressure, with no childcare options having been discussed.
Her partner, who remained in the United States, was unable to retrieve the child, fearing arrest himself. He was reportedly informed too late about the family’s transfer to a detention center.
Julia, who was pregnant at the time of deportation, has since indicated that the forced return to Honduras has deeply destabilized her family. “I thought I was going to a simple administrative appointment. They lied to me. I left my husband behind without having the right to make a family decision,” she declared.
The complaint filed on July 31 demands reparations, recognition of the deportations’ illegality, and the return of families to American soil. The lawyers are also requesting a jury trial on the matter.
This case reignites the debate on deportations of migrant parents accompanied by American citizen children, a sensitive issue previously denounced by NGOs. While DHS maintains it follows the law, family advocates argue these procedures lack transparency and respect for rights, putting vulnerable lives at risk.
